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Climate Risking the Trump Brand

Backing out of the US Commitment to the 2015 UN Climate Accords signed in Paris by 195 nations, President Trump himself risks derailing his own brand and Trump-branded properties worldwide. This additional unforced error, is warned against by his top advisors, from Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn and a host of corporate chiefs to Ivanka and Jared Kushner. Trump seems influenced by the Breitbart alumni in the White House: Steve Bannon, Jeff Session's henchman Stephen Miller, Sebastian Gorka and others. Breitbart's fake news operation and the Trump campaign, funded by Renaissance Technologies boss Robert Mercer, also serves as an outlet for RT and other Russian propaganda.

Trump's backsliding on the UN Climate deal has revealed the extent of these perverse influences on the foreign policy of the US. We may see resignations of some of his still respected team: Secretary of Defense General Mattis, National Security Advisor General McMasters and General Kelly at Homeland Security. Even Chief Economic advisor Gary Cohn may be embarrassed enough to return to his top post at Goldman Sachs.

The 200 nations still committed to the climate agreement are ranged against the three defectors: Syria, Nicaragua and the US. This seems to be the last global stand of the fossilized Industrial Era sectors and their cheerleaders in the USA, OPEC, Russia, Saudi Arabia and other oil states, shale frackers, their foolish financiers and coal interests around the world.

Meanwhile, as we have forecast in our 2017 Green Transition Scoreboard® tracking private investments as green sectors worldwide since 2007—now a cumulative $8.1 trillion—the cleaner green transition to inclusive renewable energy and circular resource-using economies is unstoppable. Even the Financial Times agrees along with The Economist.

So a Trump unforced error in pulling out of the climate deal simply hurts the US position and cedes the competitive advantage in the race to complete the global green transition to China, Europe, Latin America and the solar-rich countries of Africa and Asia. The three million jobs already powering the US green transition will continue growing, but more will be created elsewhere—so far, 8.5 million worldwide. While the White House is consumed by the Russian and financial scandals and the Republican dominated Congress is laying low, the millions of voters who opposed Trump are re-grouping and a small band of citizens has an appeal at the Supreme Court to appoint a "Special Master" to investigate the Russian hacking of the US, in addition to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Meanwhile the growing group of medical and psychological experts continue to call for closer examination of Trump's medical records, to assess whether he is capable of continuing to exercise the responsibilities of his office.

As an immigrant, naturalized as a US citizen in 1963, I pray for my beloved adopted country.